21. The British at Leisure.

• Sport is very important part of life in Great Britain. Thousands of people devote their leisure time to outdoor and indoor games, athletics, cycling, mountain climbing, boxing and other sport. Horse-racing, dog-racing and motor racing are among the most popular sports in Britain. They gather many spectators. Outdoor games played in Great Britain are team games such as football, cricket and hockey, and games in which individuals or couples try their skill, for example lawn-tennis and golf. The number of participants and spectators shows that the most popular of the team games are football and cricket, and the most popular individual game is lawn-tennis.

• Moreover 4 British The weekends are a time for families. Often the parents are not at work having worked a five day week from Monday to Friday. Saturdays are a busy time for shops with many families going shopping.

• The most common leisure activity in the UK is watching television. The average viewing time is 25 hours per person per week

• People in Britain listen to an average 15 hours and 50 minutes of radio each week.

• The second most popular activity in Britain is visiting or entertaining friends or relations.

• Britons made 123 million visits to the cinema in 1998 making it the most popular cultural activity in the UK.

• The British are known as a nation of gardeners. Most people have a garden on their property. Gardening has been a popular pastime since Roman times.Many people in Britain are proud of their houses and gardens.

• Going to the pub is the most popular leisure activity outside the home

22. The British Year.

There are a number of holidays, which are celebrated in Great Britain every year.

• One of them is, of course, the New Year's Day on the first of January. It is not so popular in England as in our country, but it is rather popular in Scotland. On that day people usually visit their friends and there is a lot of dancing and eating. In Scotland people bring a piece of coal for good luck in the New Year.

• The next holiday of the year is St. Valentine's Day. It is on the 14th of February. People buy or make Valentine cards and send them to the people they love.

• In March there is Mother's Day. All the children and adults, come to their mothers on that day to express their love and gratitude.

• In April there is Easter. At Easter children eat chocolate Easter eggs. Sometimes parents hide them in the house or in the garden and children have to look for them.

• In June there is Father's Day. On Father's Day children give or send their fathers and grandfathers cards and presents.

• On the 31st of October there is a Halloween. They say ghosts and witches come out on Halloween. People make lanterns out of pumpkins. Some people have Halloween parties and dress as witches and ghosts.

• The 25th of December is Christmas Day. It is one of the people's favourite holidays. People put Christmas trees in their houses and decorate them. There are beautiful Christmas decorations in the streets. On Christmas Eve everybody puts the presents under the Christmas tree. People say that at night Father Christmas puts presents into the stockings which children usually hang above their beds. The traditional Christmas meal is roasted turkey and Christmas pudding.